Mighty Mouse
Mighty Mouse was a competitor robot in Series 6 and 7 of Robot Wars, also competing in the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. A very fast and slippery robot, Mighty Mouse was known to be quite difficult to fight in battle. It was defeated in the second round of Series 6 and made the Heat Final of Series 7. Mighty Mouse was the successor to Velocirippa, and was constructed from the remnants of the version of the robot destroyed in Extreme 1. The two robots fought together in the Extreme 2 Tag Team Terror. Following the end of Robot Wars' initial run, Mighty Mouse was succeeded by Meggamouse, which was entered into Series 9. Design Mighty Mouse was created from the rolling chassis of the original Velocirippa after the filming of Series 5 and Extreme Series 1, where it was severely damaged by Disc-O-Inferno. (A new Velocirippa was created for Series 6, and the two robots were partners in the Tag Team Terror competition in Extreme Series 2). Mighty Mouse was created with speed and armour in mind, and thus was significantly smaller (and somewhat lighter) than many of the other robots seen in the two series that it competed in. It had a U-shaped metal bar on top that rolled the robot back onto its wheels whenever it was flipped over, making it virtually impossible for Mighty Mouse to be immobilised that way. Its primary weapon was a set of very tough ramming spikes at the front. Initially its rear end featured a steering damper designed to resemble a mouse's tail which could double as a thwacking weapon; for Series 7, a pair of spinning discs replaced it, as a result of the rule that every robot must have a moving weapon, which also affected robots like Storm 2. One of its distinctive features was its speed- it could reach top speeds of 30mph, although for Series 7 this was geared down to 23mph, possibly to make the robot easier to control without the steering damper. The front ramming blades of Mighty Mouse were made from HARDOX, and had been carried over from Velocirippa, making both robots pioneers of HARDOX in robotic combat, although Trevor Wright later admitted that he did not realise he was using HARDOX steel until a later time. Qualification Team Mouse attended the Series 6 and 7 qualifiers with Mighty Mouse and Velocirippa. At the Series 6 qualifiers, both Mighty Mouse and Velocirippa qualified, but Velocirippa was withdrawn as Team Mouse was originally only allowed to enter with one robot. Mighty Mouse fought 8645T and TX-108 at the Series 7 qualifiers, with 8645T winning the battle. Mighty Mouse was originally a reserve for Series 7, as Team Mouse was originally only allowed to enter with one robot, and had already qualified with Velocirippa. However, Mighty Mouse was eventually brought into the line-up as Team captain Trevor Wright was able to reach the studio for filming at short notice. Robot History Series 6 In Heat C of the Sixth Wars, Mighty Mouse made its televised Robot Wars debut. In its first-round melee, it fought the fifth seed Chaos 2, alongside the experienced Iron-Awe 2 and the newcomer Destructosaur. Against all odds, it survived its first round after doing very little whilst Chaos 2 flipped Destructosaur over onto its back immediately and then flipped Iron-Awe 2 out of the arena soon afterwards. Mighty Mouse rammed the overturned Destructosaur once, but then it spent the remainder of the fight running away from Chaos 2, waiting for Destructosaur to be counted out. Mighty Mouse still drove straight onto the flipper, but Chaos 2's flipper had broken after Iron-Awe 2 went out, which allowed Mighty Mouse to go through with Chaos 2 into the next round, as Destructosaur was eventually counted out by Refbot, and flipped by the arena floor flipper. In the second round of the heat, Mighty Mouse was up against Dantomkia, newcomers to the main competition. Mighty Mouse ran away from Dantomkia, just like it did against Chaos 2, until it got itself wedged on the arena side wall. Refbot pulled it free and it was then flipped onto its side by Dantomkia. After this, it ran over to the arena side wall, which was a mistake, as it lost part of its tail and was then flipped out of the arena by Dantomkia, eliminating it from the competition. Extreme 2 Mighty Mouse was singularly entered into the Tag Team Terror competition for the second series of Extreme It was partnered with Team Mouse's other machine Velocirippa, and faced Barbaric Response and Hydra in its first round battle. After Velocirippa broke down rather quickly in battle with Hydra, Mighty Mouse rushed out to tag, also trying to get it off the flame pit. However, it was targeted by Barbaric Response, who flipped it away from Velocirippa and flipped it around the arena. Hydra then slammed Mighty Mouse into the side wall. Mighty Mouse tried to escape the two opponents, but failed as Barbaric Response then pushed Mighty Mouse into Matilda's CPZ, into the path of her spinning flywheel weapon. Hydra then slammed into the pit release button, before shunting the helpless Mighty Mouse down the pit for the win, eliminating Team Mouse from the Tag Team Terror competition. In stark contrast to its team-mate, this was the only time Mighty Mouse lost in the first round of a competition. Series 7 Competing in Heat J of the Seventh Wars, Mighty Mouse was drawn against 8645T 2, newcomers Mobot and the fourteenth seeds Thermidor 2 in the first round. Mighty Mouse made little impact as it stayed out of the way of the main action, mostly. After Thermidor 2 flipped over 8645T 2 and flipped Mobot out of the arena, Mighty Mouse was scooped up and flipped over by Thermidor 2, almost out of the arena. It was upside down and its rollbar failed to work because Mighty Mouse was propped up against the arena side wall, inside the CPZ. Despite this, 8645T 2 was then counted out, but was then righted by Thermidor 2 and tried to attack house robots. Mighty Mouse, after they'd been accidentally self-righted by Dead Metal, started to move slowly into the centre of the arena, completely breaking down here. 8645T 2 then tried to pit Mighty Mouse after being flipped by the arena floor flipper, but they drove into the pit and secured its defeat. Mighty Mouse was then pitted by Thermidor 2 anyway, but both robots still went through to the second round. Mighty Mouse was then drawn against yet another flipper in Kronic the Wedgehog in Round 2 of the heat. Mighty Mouse again took evasive action as it tried to dodge Kronic the Wedgehog's flipper. Kronic the Wedgehog however got a few good flips in, one sending Mighty Mouse hurtling into the arena side wall, across the flame pit. Mighty Mouse then showed aggression by ramming Kronic the Wedgehog from behind and shunting it into a CPZ, where Kronic the Wedgehog was unable to get away. House robot Mr. Psycho closed in on Kronic the Wedgehog, the 800 kg machine hit Kronic the Wedgehog repeatedly with his hammer until Kronic the Wedgehog was immobilised completely. Refbot counted out Kronic the Wedgehog, causing a major upset as Mighty Mouse was sent through to the heat final. Mighty Mouse once again faced Thermidor 2 in the Heat Final. In the battle, Thermidor 2 was able to flip Mighty Mouse high into the air, whenever it got the opportunity, with Mighty Mouse running all over the arena, making no actual attempt to attack Thermidor 2. As the fight wore on, Mighty Mouse's manoeuvrability was depleting, and turning became very slow. Mighty Mouse drove into Sir Killalot's CPZ, but was eventually able to get away before it could sustain further damage, however it was only to suffer further flips from Thermidor 2. Eventually, Mighty Mouse's drive motors were so severely damaged that the robot could only move forwards and backwards, at which point, it drove again into Sir Killalot's CPZ, who in turn picked up Mighty Mouse and held it over the flame pit, causing its ears to fall off. Mighty Mouse then got away, and collided again with Thermidor 2 after the latter had pressed the pit release button. Mighty Mouse was nearly pushed down the pit in the closing seconds of the battle, but just survived to a judges' decision. However, the decision was obvious, going in favour of Thermidor 2, and Mighty Mouse was eliminated from the competition. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 3 *Losses: 3 Series Record NOTE: Trevor Wright's machine and the successor to Mighty Mouse, Meggamouse, was also entered into Series 9 by Team Tilly, also applying for Series 10 without being selected. Outside Robot Wars Mighty_Mouse_(Techno_Games).JPG|Mighty Mouse at Techno Games 2002 MMBurton.jpg|Mighty Mouse, with the top removed, on display at Burton, 2002 mightymouse.jpg|Trevor & Matthew Wright with Mighty Mouse at a Robot Crusade event in 2003 Mightymouse.gif|Mighty Mouse after Robot Wars (still competing) Mighty_Mouse_2013.png|Mighty Mouse on Display in 2013 DSCN0189.JPG|Mighty Mouse on display in March 2014 Mighty Mouse internals.jpg|The internals of Mighty Mouse in 2005 Like many Robot Wars competitors, the Mighty Mouse team entered Techno Games. The team entered a slightly altered Mighty Mouse (the front spikes were removed and replaced with two shorter spikes, and brandished different paintwork) into the 2002 football tournament, Sumo and the assault course. It lost in Round 1 of the Sumo, Assault Course and Tug of War to Chip, Transpower and Big Bro. Partnered with Wolf, it also lost in the first round of the Football to Team Snow Cat in the same year. In Techno Games 2003, it was teamed with Bugs Buggy in the Football rather than Velocirippa, which entered alongside Sugar Plum Fairy. Together, the two were 'The Mousekerteers', but lost to Team Flash in Round 1. In the Assault Course, Mighty Mouse set a new world record when it defeated Mousecatcher in the first round, and made it all the way to the final before losing to Typhoon Rover, picking up a silver medal. Mighty Mouse performed decently in the 2006 UK Championship, advancing out of its heat by defeating Tilly 101 and Tanto before falling in the knockout stages. Mighty Mouse continued to compete in other robotic combat events, eventually retiring in 2008 after being severely damaged by Terrorhurtz, after which Mighty Mouse was reduced to its status as a display unit, while its successor Meggamouse went on to replace it on in heavyweight battles. The team also built a featherweight inspired by Mighty Mouse, named Mini Mighty Mouse, using a flipper weapon like that of Meggamouse. It was more successful than Mighty Mouse itself, winning the 2007 UK Featherweight Championships. Robot Wars Live Events While Team Mouse regularly participated at Robot Wars live events with the heavyweight successor to Mighty Mouse, Meggamouse, and the featherweight Mini Mighty Mouse, Mighty Mouse itself had already retired, and instead appeared at every event as a static display, showing its age in rust and scars. Trivia *Like Ripper, another Heat Finalist from Series 7, Mighty Mouse was retired during the Robot Wars 12-year hiatus due to damage inflicted by Terrorhurtz in live event battles. *Mighty Mouse was very well known for being very light but also very fast. However, it was never the absolute in the series for either of these statistics. In Series 6, Sabretooth was reportedly quicker by 40mph, and Granny's Revenge 2 was lighter by 16kg. *All of Mighty Mouse's battles featured at least one robot with a flipper. *Both of Mighty Mouse's first round melees in the UK Championship saw it face a seeded robot, another veteran and one robot that never appeared in any other episode. In addition, those melees were the first battle of the corresponding heats it featured in. *Both of the seeds that Mighty Mouse fought in the main competition met each other in the Flipper Frenzy in Extreme Series 1. *Mighty Mouse's Series 6 appearance featured a smiley mouth on it but its other two appearances did not have it. Additionally, the Series 7 version did not feature the whiskers. References External Links *Team Mouse website (archived) Category:UK Series competitors Category:Robots Thrown out of the Arena Category:Robots from Nottinghamshire Category:Robots with Spikes Category:Robots with Cutting Discs Category:Competitors in Techno Games Category:Animal Based Robots Category:Robots to appear in Battle Cards Pack 4 Category:Tag Team Competitors Category:UK Heat Finalists Category:Robots with an equal amount of Wins and Losses Category:Robots with rollover designs Category:Robots which debuted in Series 6 Category:Robots based on rodents